TALLADEGA COUNTY, Ala. – The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) has released its annual list of fish consumption advisories for 2024, warning the public to avoid eating fish caught in some Alabama waterways due to the presence of harmful substances like mercury or man-made chemicals.
“Unfortunately, certain toxic chemicals have been found in some lakes and rivers in Alabama,” the department said in this year’s advisory. “Some of these chemicals can accumulate in fish. With some of the chemicals, higher levels of the contaminants can be found in older and/or larger fish. When chemical concentrations are elevated in fish, they can pose health risks to people who eat them.”
In Talladega County, the following are included in the advisory:
* Choccolocco Creek, in the vicinity of County Rd. 399 bridge. (Talladega County) – Do not eat (PCBs, mercury)
* Choccolocco Creek embayment, approximately one mile upstream of lake confluence. (Talladega County) – Do not eat (PCBs)
* Choccolocco Creek, entire length of creek from south of Oxford to Logan Martin Reservoir. (Calhoun, Talladega Counties) – Do not eat (PCBs)
ADPH says that a fish consumption advisory does not mean that a body of water is unsafe for swimming or other activities.
“Fish bioaccumulate contaminants in their tissues to concentrations that are sometimes hundreds to thousands of times greater than the concentration of the contaminant in the waters they inhabit,” the Department said in its advisories. “Activities such as swimming, boating, or catch-and-release fishing in waters that have fish consumption advisories are considered to be safe.”
